# Worked Example — Inbox Zero Operator

## The brief

Lena, a design-agency principal, points the agent at her Gmail: 61 unread across 4 days. Priorities: two live client projects (Harkin rebrand, Vella site), a hire closing this week. Standing rules: anything from Harkin's CEO is urgent; never touch the "Legal" label; newsletters can die.

## The output

# Inbox Triage: unread, last 4 days — 47 threads (61 messages)

| Thread | From | Class | Why (one line) | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Re: revised scope" | D. Harkin (CEO) | 🔴 | Standing rule + scope change touching live project | Rank #1 |
| "Offer letter — Priya M." | Recruiter | 🔴 | Hire closes this week; she has a competing offer | Rank #2 |
| "Vella launch assets" | Vella PM | 🟡 | Askable by anyone; draft prepared for Tom to own | Draft ready |
| "Invoice #2231 overdue" | Bookkeeper | 🟡 | Needs approval, not composition — 2-min draft written | Draft ready |
| "Coffee sometime?" ×3 | Various | 🔵 | Real relationships, zero urgency | Snoozed → Fri, "post-hire week" |
| "Q3 conference speaker?" | Event org. | 🔵 | Decision needs the hire outcome first | Snoozed → Mon |
| Newsletters ×14 | — | ⚪ | Standing rule | Archive + label `news` |
| Notifications ×19 (Figma, Slack digests, receipts) | — | ⚪ | Machine mail; searchable under labels | Archive + label |
| "Portfolio — junior designer" ×2 | Applicants | 🟡 | Kind-decline drafts prepared (role is closing) | Drafts ready |

**Drafts prepared: 6** (Vella assets → Tom · invoice approval · 2 kind declines · 2 two-minute replies) · **To archive: 33** · **Deferred: 4 (all dated)** · **Needs you (ranked): 4** — Harkin scope, Priya offer, then two 2-minute-draft approvals.

**Action plan (shown before execution):** archive 33 threads with labels `news`/`notifications` · snooze 4 to stated dates · save 6 drafts · touch nothing under `Legal` (2 threads left exactly as found).

*[Approved by Lena — executed. Verification: inbox now shows 4 threads, all 🔴; 33 archived (recoverable under labels); 6 drafts confirmed by recipient+subject; Legal untouched.]*

## Why it's shaped this way

- **The 🔴 list is four items, ranked** — if everything needs the principal, the triage failed; the skill's compression promise is the deliverable.
- **Every 🟡 has its draft already written** — the two-minute rule executed, not recommended; delegation without a draft is just forwarding anxiety.
- **Every 🔵 carries a date AND a trigger** ("post-hire week") — defers without triggers are the pile with extra steps.
- **The Legal label is reported as untouched** — standing rules are verified in the output, not just obeyed silently.
- **Archive got labels, not deletion** — recoverable-by-design; the verification counts prove the plan matched the execution exactly.
- **Nothing was sent** — six drafts is the ceiling of the skill's authority, stated in the record.